An Islamic extremist who landed a job as a British Airways computer expert conspired with a radical preacher to blow up a plane bound for America, a court heard today.

In secret email exchanges with radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, Bangladeshi Rajib Karim, 31, shared details of his BA contacts and access from his home in Brunton Lane, Newcastle, the court heard.

Karim, who came to the UK in 2006, worked for BA in the city and had access to the airliner’s offices there and at Heathrow.

Today, Woolwich Crown Court heard Karim established a deep cover, joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views.

All the the while, the prosecution allege, he was communicating with a terror cell and al-Awlaki who has never been caught and is believed to be hiding in the mountains of Yemen.

The defendant is accused of plotting to blow up a plane, sharing information of use to hate groups such as al-Qaida, offering to help financial or disruptive attacks on BA and gaining a UK job to ``exploit terrorist purposes", which he denies.

The jury of seven men and five women were told today that Karim has already pleaded guilty to three terror charges.